


A saint and A pilgrim

by Violacea



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Christmas Fluff, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 22:29:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1099326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Violacea/pseuds/Violacea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mr. Gold kept telling himself that borrowing the books from the library was just merely an extension of his interest on classic western literatures. But then it hit him, he was fooling himself, it was nothing but an excuse, and that made him nervous, he had let the beautiful Ms. French getting too close for comfort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Belle French was anything but calm. During the church’s congregation meeting that day, she kept stealing glances to the back row where a certain slim figure was seated, looking very smug with his polished Armani suit and his handheld golden cane. Everyone in town knew that man, the ruthless and notorious Mr. Gold, the unofficial owner of Storybrooke.

Most of the contacts that Belle French, the librarian of the city, had with him were mainly regarding the books that he borrowed from the library. She noticed that lately, he had been borrowing a lot of Shakespearean literature, with _Romeo and Juliet_ being the most recent one.

Their interaction started one day when he returned the overdue _Hamlet_ copy of the library, and since then, they often shared their opinion regarding the literatures, had a debate or two regarding the characters and discussed the plots in great depth.

Belle French found Mr. Gold as an incredibly intelligent and eloquent man. Most of the guys in town would put a blank expression on their face once she started to talk about her love of books, and soon they would avert the topic by commenting how beautiful she looked that day. So Belle was glad to find someone who was on par with her and who intellectually challenged her, and she believed or hoped that at least the feeling was mutual.

“What a lovely surprise to see you here, Mr. Gold.” Belle smiled as she approached him once the meeting was over. “Are you here to help with the fundraising event for Christmas?” She asked.

“Ah…Sorry to disappoint you, Ms. French.” Mr. Gold replied courteously. “I am merely here to observe my investment.”

Belle tilted her head to the side and looked a bit lost. “Whatever do you mean Mr. Gold?”

He gave a smirk as a reply and said in a businesslike manner. “You must have noticed that the church underwent a renovation recently, which I had generously funded, with low interest rate of course. So I am here to see whether my money had been well spent or not.”

“Ah…” Belle remarked shortly and added. “I hope you are pleased with the result.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that I am displeased.” He replied casually.

“I see.” Belle was unsure of the appropriate reply to the enigmatic Mr. Gold. He baffled her. She often heard the rumors circulating around him, that he got his power from being ruthless and anyone who crossed him would get hurt. But he had been nothing of the sort toward her, he was always courteous but at the same time…distant.

He often regarded her carefully with her surname, Ms. French, and sometimes with an old fashioned endearment, dearie. But Belle could sense that there was something more than meets the eyes, and for a strange and unexplained reason, she felt her heart fluttered whenever he was nearby.

Mr. Gold broke the silence by clearing his throat and said. “I am afraid I have other businesses to attend to, so, if you excuse me.” He rose from his seat then bid her farewell. “Until next time, Ms. French.”

“Yes, I wish you a nice day, Mr. Gold.”


	2. Chapter 2

A few days had passed since their last meeting at the church, and it was only a couple more weeks to Christmas. Mr. Gold was decorating his shop with some festive ornaments. Although he never really embraced the joyous spirit of the celebration, a little bit of decorations would not hurt the business.

Mr. Gold was hanging the Pine Wreaths on the wall, when he heard the bell of his shop jingled. It was Belle, who entered his shop, looking lovely as always, with a glowing smile on her face. “Good morning, Mr. Gold.” She greeted him cheerfully.

“Good morning Ms. French.” He replied. “What brings you here today?” He asked, walking toward the counter while holding his mahogany cane firmly.

“Well, I am here for the fundraising. The church has decided to sell some Christmas-themed candles, would like to buy some? It will look good on your shop.” Belle asked eagerly, the sunlight that passed through the window glass fell to her, adding a magical glow to her chestnut curl.

“How charming, but I’ll pass, dearie” Mr. Gold replied absently.

“Come on,” Belle said persuasively. “Christmas is coming, where is the spirit?” Belle walked closer to approach him, there was a genuine optimistic and hopeful look on her face, but unfortunately, it was met with a dismissive reply. “I have never been a fan of the so-called spirit, besides…” He added nonchalantly. “I think Christmas is overrated.”

“What’s with the bitter view of Christmas?” She asked, determined not to give up so easily.

“Well, let’s just say that I am a difficult man to love, Ms. French.” Mr. Gold said mockingly with a sneer on his face.

Belle frowned upon hearing the answer, her azure eyes were looking intently at him. There was something about the lovely Ms. French that disturbed Mr. Gold. Since the first day they met, something inside of him stirred. He did not know why, he did not know how, but it felt as if she could see right through all the layers that he had meticulously built over the years.

But strangely, no matter how much being around her had made him feeling uncomfortable, he was always drawn to her. Mr. Gold kept telling himself that borrowing the books from the library was just merely an extension of his interest on classic western literatures. But then it hit him, he was fooling himself, it was nothing but an excuse, and that made him nervous, he had let the beautiful Ms. French getting too close for comfort.

“Why do you like to portray yourself as a villain?” Belle asked, pushing the subject carefully.

Mr. Gold was troubled by her question, he did not like the fact that she was able to read him easily like an open book. “You think you know me? Over some discussions about books?” He scoffed.

Belle walked slowly to the counter where he stood. “I have sense about people, Mr. Gold.” She bit her lower lips and continued.” And I believe that you are not as dark as people had said.” She touched his hand briefly with hers.

Mr. Gold could feel every inch of his body tensed up, such a simple touch had sent an electrical impulse into his system, and he disliked the feeling of not being in control of his own reactions. It left him vulnerable and that made him very much annoyed. “Really Ms. French, you have this overly romanticized idea of me, are you trying to tame the town’s beast?” He flicked his hand absentmindedly.

“I…I didn’t mean to…” Belle was stuttering. She could see him staring at her, looking stern and aloof. So that was the face that everyone in town feared, Belle thought.

“You may leave Ms. French, before I change my mind.” Mr. Gold remarked arrogantly.

Any normal person would coward or perhaps intimidated upon hearing such words from Mr. Gold. But not Belle French, instead she just felt disappointment. “You know Robert.” Belle mentioned his first name bravely. “I thought you were better than this.” Then she left, leaving Mr. Gold alone in the shop.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been weeks since the argument at Mr. Gold’s shop, and the cold war continued. They pretended not to take a notice whenever they bumped onto each other on the street.

Mr. Gold should have been pleased that things were back to ‘normal’, he succeeded in creating a distance between himself and her. He should have been glad, but he did not, on the contrary, he felt miserable. He never missed the presence of someone this badly before.

Since his nasty divorce years ago, Mr. Gold had hardened his heart, he refused to believe on the bright side of life, and he did not think himself worthy of love and certainly not worthy of Ms. French.

Mr. Gold tried desperately to dismiss the image of Ms. French from his mind, unfortunately his subconscious mind said otherwise. Almost every night since the event at his shop took place, he suffered from recurring dreams. His dreams were never clear, they were more like collections of fragmented memories, but in each one of them, Ms. French was present, haunting him. And when he was finally wakened up, he was left with nothing but an intense wanting and hollowness.

Mr. Gold casted his attention on the _Romeo and Juliet_ book on the table, a book that was long overdue and seemed to be abandoned. He looked at his watch, it was 5 p.m. and the date was 24 th December. He pondered for a while then decided that perhaps, it was time for him to be a good citizen of the town and returned the long overdue book to the library.


	4. Chapter 4

Belle was closing in for the day, she was looking forward to the Christmas Eve dinner held by the church tonight. Finally something big enough to distract her mind. These past few weeks had been agonizing for her. She knew that ignoring Mr. Gold would not be that easy. It was torturing to keep wondering about what he was doing, what he was thinking and how he felt.

Sometimes, Belle felt so stupid to think that there was some sort of _connections_ between them. She sighed as she took her coat, preparing to lock the library, but her steps were halted when she saw the door being pushed from the outside.

“Sorry, but we are closed…” Then she stopped her sentence once she saw who was entering the premises. “Mr. Gold…I wasn’t expecting you….”

He looked a bit uneasy at first but then he handed over the book to Belle and said. “Uh, I am here to return this, it is kind of overdue.”

“Right…” Belle replied with a skeptical look on her face. “There is no need for pretenses, Mr. Gold.”

Mr. Gold hesitated for a moment then said. “Our last…meeting was rather unfortunate, I…uh…was not my best self that day.” Mr. Gold tried to keep his calm. “So I am here to apologize for my rather rude behavior.”

“Hmm…” Belle eyed him doubtfully. “Apology accepted, but are you sure that’s the only reason why you are here?” She asked, hopeful.

“What are suggesting, Ms. French?”

Belle took a deep breath, there were so many uncertainties surrounding her right now. On one side, she did not want to risk an embarrassment by asking him about the state of their _friendship_ , what if the whole thing was just her imagination. But at the same time, it was excruciating to be in a limbo state, always wondering, always guessing. So Belle decided if there was a right time for a clarification, it would be now.

Belle sighed. “Well, our last conversation, after I think about it, there was something that didn’t quite make sense.”

Mr. Gold raised an eyebrow. “Which one is it, dearie?”

“Uh…the part when you said that you wanted me to leave, before you changed your mind.” Belle paused. “Maybe I was just reading between the lines, but…was there a part of you at that time that wanted me to…stay?” She asked carefully.

Mr. Gold grew quiet but his mind was racing. For him, there were two viable options at the moment. One was to do the unthinkable and to be honest with her about the whole situation. Or two, to treat it casually as if it was nothing, then continued on keeping his distance from her, which he had failed miserably to do so far. Thus, it seemed to him that the unthinkable was more of an attractive option.

Mr. Gold shook his head slightly, mustered his courage and whispered her name softly, her _first_ name. “Belle…” He said it cautiously. “The truth is, I am drawn to you, no matter how much I tried to ignore it, I just can’t.” There was a deafening silence hanging in the air. “You are a lovely and sweet young woman Belle, while me…” Mr. Gold spread his lower half right arm mid air, as if was presenting himself. “It takes no brainer to see what an old and damaged man I am.” Mr. Gold swallowed, he was a bundle of nerves. “A saint deserves better than a sinner, Ms. French.” He concluded wryly.

Belle was bedazzled, her eyes fixed at the man who was standing in front of her, looking vulnerable but courageous at the same time. She finally saw the man behind the layers. Mr. Gold was just a man who had been hurt in the past and who was afraid to love again, because he thought that no one could ever really love him, but he was wrong.

“Belle.” She corrected. “Please call me that, I like the sound of it on your lips.”

“Belle.” He nodded.

Then Belle smiled at him and said. “Love is a gift Robert, there is nothing you can or cannot do to deserve it.” She walked closer to him and put her hands on his shoulder. “And you are no sinner, you are just a man who is on the pilgrimage to find a better life.” She lowered her hands to meet his and held them gently.

Mr. Gold could not believe his ear, did he hear her right? Did she just say what he thought she did? A wave of emotions overwhelmed him, but now instead of rejecting things that he could not control, he decided to embrace them.

It had been a while since Mr. Gold experienced happiness that he almost forgot what it felt like. He felt very much humbled that life was merciful enough to give himself one more shot at happiness. His voice trembled as he whispered her name. “Oh Belle…”

Belle was beaming with joy, and she was expecting and waiting for what would usually follow in the romance books that she had read. At time like this, normally the hero would swept the heroine off her feet and kiss her. But then, she chuckled, Robert was anything but a typical man, and perhaps that was the reason why she fell for him in the first time. Then an idea entered her mind and she let out a small giggle.

“What’s so funny, dearie?” Mr. Gold was puzzled by the sudden giggling that came out from her lips.

“Well, don’t you think our situation is kind of resemble _Romeo and Juliet_ , you know from act 1, scene 5, about the saint and the pilgrim?” She asked teasingly with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Now that you mentioned it, a bit I guess. But I am sorry Belle, I still don’t quite follow you.” He smiled apologetically.

“Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.” Belle was quoting from the play, her eyes looked at him, hoping him to get the clue.

Then it dawned on him. “Ah…Shall I worship you then my saint? Shall I use my lips like pilgrims do? After all, pilgrims touch the hands of statues of saints. Holding one palm against another is like a kiss.” He replied with a quote from the play as well.

Belle could feel her cheek burned, she whimpered softly the only word that mattered. “Yes…”

“Then move not, while my prayer’s effect I take.” Then he kissed her. It was a gentle and soft kiss, yet in its simplicity, it was perfect.

“Look up…” Belle murmured faintly while in his embrace.

“Mistletoe,” It was Mr. Gold’s turn to chuckle.  “Perhaps I should start believing in the spirit of Christmas after all.” He whispered softly in her ear while his hand gently grazing her locks.

“Perhaps you should…Merry Christmas Robert.” She snuggled closer to him.

“Merry Christmas Belle,” He paused, looking at her eyes lovingly and confessed. “I love you.” He kissed her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got this idea to write a Rumbelle Christmas Fluff with some Shakespearean spice about a week ago, so I rushed myself to finish it on time. Merry Christmas everyone, hoped you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.


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